This is from another thread but I'm putting it here because my comment might derail the thread it's from.

Karin Pouw wrote:From Tony Ortega:

The mailing also came with a list of loyal Scientologists who have already donated. Can you guess who made the top of the list?

Well sure, the richest Scientologists in the world, Bob and Trish Duggan, lead the list once again. And based on their status — LRH Hall Member of Elite Honor — we’d have to conclude that they’ve given more than a $1 million to the project. (We’ve estimated that they’ve also given about $50 million to the International Association of Scientologists fund.) [UPDATE: Another list shows that in order to get the “Elite Honor” level, the donation by the Duggans must be at least $2.5 million.]

Hey, if Bob and Trish are leading the way, how can this thing lose! Take our check and send that T-Shirt right away!

Scientology works on what it calls flows and stats. If someone involved with Scientology gives money then that
gets them in the habit of giving Scientology money and they can be sure that Scientology registrars
will be coming to them for more money.

Let's say someone involved with Scientology goes for the t-shirt and forks over $1,000. Everyone will applaud
and love bomb them for being so upstat . . . until next week after this Thursday at 2. At that time their
donation for that week is zero and they are downstat and a degraded piece of shit until they get their stat
up. So registrars will have a meeting early in the week and assess that person to see if they have sufficient
assets, credit or sufficient level of threat can be brought against them to fork over more. If there's the
slightest possibility of getting more from them registrars will be on them to get it.

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

I've been holding back on this because it has no scientific basis. I look at what is coming for Scientology
and I get an image in my mind. Whether or not that relates to anything that actually may happen is most
likely coincidental. As well the images are never literal and they are open to interpretation. One acceptable
interpretation is outright dismissal. I am not psychic and I have no supernatural powers. I cannot predict
the future. I can only speculate.

So here's the image I get for Scientology for 2015. Conflagration. I see a raging fire. I see flames violently
rising three hundred feet in the air and making a loud howl that can be heard over a great distance.

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

Since Gilman Hot Springs suffers disastrous mudslides and floods every few decades, nobody would pay good money for the land. And, who wants a huge studio that far from tinseltown? Who wants a dumb old fake ship stuck in the sand? CoS would have to sell it at a huge loss.

Don Carlo wrote:Since Gilman Hot Springs suffers disastrous mudslides and floods every few decades, nobody would pay good money for the land. And, who wants a huge studio that far from tinseltown? Who wants a dumb old fake ship stuck in the sand? CoS would have to sell it at a huge loss.

Yeah, I know.

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

There are estimates that Scientology has $1.5 billion to $2 billion in cash.

I suspect the organization has a lot less than that.

Clues
Hubbard, in his writings about money said to spend freely and make more money.
Reports of David Miscavige's lavish spending for his personal benefit.
Reports of David Miscavige gambling heavily in Las Vegas with Hubbard's money while Hubbard was alive.
Tommy Davis admitted that Scientology has to pay property taxes on the real estate Scientology owns.Freewind's operating expenses.
Scientology hires large numbers of non Scientology private investigators.
Scientology hires large numbers of non Scientology lawyers.
Scientology's relentless and ruthless fund raising.
Scientology's rapidly diminishing active membership.
Scientology buys time and space for lavish and ineffective advertizing.

Yes, $1.5 billion to $2 billion is an almost unimaginable amount of money and it makes incredible interest.
However, I suspect that David Miscavige is very poorly skilled at handling money and that he likely spends
more money than the interest that capital makes. Like Scientology's highly inflated reports of high
membership numbers -- 10,000,000 claimed while 25,000 to 30,000 is more likely -- I think Scientology's
wealth is also very much over estimated.

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

The subject matter of the main article is very interesting but what caught my attention was a couple of pictures
of work being done on Scientology's new television facility, KCET.

This is the picture I find interesting.

This shows, presumably, sea org staff members, working at night, painting the bars on the windows.
Hmmm, bars on the windows. Oh, yes, the PR reason for this is security from burglars and to keep
people out. But this is Scientology and I have a feeling the main reason for the bars on the windows
is to keep people inside from getting out.

That's my opinion on the matter but I am open to arguments to the contrary.

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

It's against fire regulations to have blocked windows in a bedroom. In each bedroom, at least one window to the outside should open in case of fire. You can buy, at Lowes or Home Depot, window bars that can swing open from the inside. If observers complain that these rooms are unsafe dorms, the fire department can do a surprise inspection and demand immediate safety fixes.

There may be some confusion with that term since in Scientology it has a different meaning than it does
among the vase majority of people who are not involved in Scientology. (I tried to establish the percentage
of people actively participating in Scientology in the world population, but I kept getting an error message
on the calculator. That was even the case using Scientology's claimed 10,000,000 members instead of the
currently estimated number based on observation of from 25,000 to 50,000.)

In Scientology PTS is short for potential trouble source. Everywhere else PTS is short for post traumatic
stress. Interestingly, abreaction therapy, on which, evidently, Hubbard based Dianetics, was developed
as a treatment for post traumatic stress. Reference: Battle for the Mind by William Sargant.

In Scientology PTSD is short for potential trouble source type D, which is, "not responsible for condition."
Don't bother trying to understand that or make it part of your overall knowledge. There isn't going to be
a test. Everywhere else, PTSD is short for post traumatic stress disorder.

For more on Scientology's potential trouble source type D, join Scientology, sign many documents including
the one commonly known by the slang term, the Lisa Clause, pay for an international association of
scientologists (IAS) membership, and take the course commonly referred to as the PTS/SP course. All of that
should set you back about fifteen to twenty thousand dollars, if not everything you own.

For more on post traumatic stress disorder, read Judith Herman's Trauma and Recovery. You can buy
the book from Amazon for less than $15 or you can borrow it from your local library for nothing. No
Scientology registrars will come calling should you choose this option. (Of course, if you are active within
Scientology all bets are off.)

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing

Tom Cruise not sitting in the audience at award shows. Scientology ads going on Craigslist without mentioning
Scientology. David Miscavige nowhere to be seen and he only comes out for ideal org openings and events that
are heavily guarded and well out of the public eye.

Scientology should release a new book by L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientology -8.0
by L. Ron Hubbard

“Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”
Doris Lessing